Crime: The Tokuryu compete with the Japanese mafia – News


Contents

The new Tokuryu criminal group is unsettling the people of Japan. These are the most important facts about it.

It’s all about this: In Japan, police are currently battling a new criminal threat: the Tokuryu. These groups are said to be on the rise and are replacing the Japanese mafia – also known as the Yakuza.

Legend:

The police in Japan are fighting the criminal threat of the Tokuryu.

Reuters/Kyodo

This is what the term “Tokuryu” means: The term is made up of two Japanese words: “tokumei” and “ryudo” – in German “anonymous” and “fluent”. This refers to the peculiarities of these semi-gangsters, namely that they do not operate as a solid gang. They organize themselves at short notice via the Darknet for individual crimes and only join forces temporarily. Often they didn’t know each other before – and then they drift apart again.

These are the members: “The members of the Tokuryu are almost exclusively young men who are unemployed, poor or discriminated against,” says Martin Fritz, a freelance journalist in Tokyo. They would brag on social media that they were only interested in money, alcohol and women. “You are available as contract criminals. A year ago, for example, a client recruited 16 to 19 year olds through an ad on the dark web. They then robbed a jewelry store in the middle of Tokyo for him.” The client is still unknown today, says Fritz.

Tokuryu in numbers


Open the box
Close the box

According to the National Police Authority (NPA), more than 10,000 people arrested between September 2021 and February 2023 are classified as Tokuryu.

Difference from Yakuza: The Yakuza are classic criminal gangs. In the West they are particularly well known through Japanese gangster films. These are organized gangs with a hierarchical structure and a social code. This states that Yakuza crimes should not affect people from the rest of society. The Tokuryu, on the other hand, are not organized: “They are independent individual entrepreneurs who are ready for any outrageous act,” says Fritz. Whether in robberies or burglaries, there is no “morality”. “That’s exactly why the police are so alarmed. Citizens feel less safe.”

Organization of the Yakuza


Open the box
Close the box

The Yakuza organization resembles a patriarchal-structured family, whose boss is referred to as the father. The members have to prove their masculinity to one another, for example with large tattoos and chopped off finger joints. With these signs, members express their loyalty to the boss.

The Yakuza in decline: The number of members of the traditional Yakuza has shrunk from around 100,000 members to around 20,000 over the last thirty years. “This is due to the anti-yakuza laws and regulations. “A gang member can no longer rent an apartment, open a bank account, or even sign a cell phone contract,” says Fritz. In addition, semi-legal Yakuza companies, such as construction companies, no longer received any orders. “Young people in the criminal world therefore no longer become members of the Yakuza, but instead work as independent semi-gangsters.” According to Fritz, the Yakuza do not disappear completely. It is often Yakuza members who then commission these new half-gangsters to commit crimes. The police then speak of hybrid crimes.

Japan’s crime rate


Open the box
Close the box

In Japan there are only 0.2 murders per 100,000 inhabitants (as of 2021). For comparison: in Switzerland there are 0.5 murders (as of 2022).

“In Japan, no one owns a firearm. Drug and property crimes are also rarer in Japan than in Switzerland,” says Martin Fritz. He suspects that the main reason for this is the draconian penalties used to punish the crimes. But: “After crime rates in Japan have fallen for decades, the trend has been rising quite sharply in the last two years. “Last year alone by 17 percent, despite the aging and shrinking population,” Fritz told SRF. The police see the phenomenon of unscrupulous Tokuryu half-gangsters as one of the causes.

This is what the police are doing about it: The National Police Agency (NPA) set up a joint investigation unit in April with 500 investigators in seven prefectures – Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka and Fukuoka. The Japanese government has now also reacted. In March 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered a crackdown on this type of crime. However, identifying the masterminds of these crimes proves difficult. Technological advances and the use of disposable phones and numbers allow them to remain anonymous.

source site-72